Source: The Atlantic
by Thomas Wright
“Last night, President Donald Trump announced a ‘total and complete’ cease-fire between Israel and Iran. Iran’s nuclear program, Trump said, had been ‘obliterated’ and ‘totally destroyed’ …. this episode would appear to mark a major foreign-policy victory for the president. But Trump may have made a crucial mistake that could bring about the very outcome that successive American presidents have [pretended to seek] to prevent: an Iranian nuclear weapon. … If parts of the program survived, or if Iran stockpiled and hid enriched uranium in advance of the strikes, then Tehran’s next steps seem clear. It will end cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Without eyes and ears on the ground, the international community will lose the ability to monitor Iran’s program. Iran could then choose to build a bomb covertly.” (06/24/25)